Yugoslavia: Export of Demining Equipment

Baroness Whitaker: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will grant a licence for the export of demining equipment to the HALO Trust in Kosovo.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: We have granted a licence for the export to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) of a rocket wrench, de-arming kit and power charges for use by the HALO Trust, an organisation engaged in humanitarian demining activities in Kosovo on behalf of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). These goods are on the UK's Military List.
	UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 1160 imposed an arms embargo on the FRY. The only exception to this embargo is that in UNSCR 1244, which provides that prohibitions imposed by UNSCR 1160 shall not apply to the sale or supply of arms and related material for use by the international civil and security presence in Kosovo. We have notified the UN Sanctions Committee on this export and they have raised no objection. The export of the equipment required for demining purposes is not prohibited by the EU arms embargo.

European Union Select Committee: Membership

Lord Shore of Stepney: asked the Chairman of Committees:
	How many Lords are serving on the European Union Committee and its Sub-Committees; and how many of them belong, respectively, to the Conservative, Labour and Liberal parties and how many are Cross-Benchers.

Lord Boston of Faversham: The Select Committee on the European Union has 19 members. They all (with the exception of the Chairman, Lord Tordoff) also serve on a Sub-Committee. Each Sub-Committee has, in addition, a number of co-opted members. The total number of Lords serving on the Select Committee and its Sub-Committees is 69.
	The breakdown by political party/membership of the Cross-Benches is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Labour 23 
			 Conservative 19 
			 Liberal Democrat 13 
			  
			 Cross-Bench 13 
			 Chairman 1 
			  
			 Total 69 
		
	
	The Chairman is an Officer of the House and is not counted as a member of a political party or the Cross-Benches.

Electricity Supply Pension Scheme

Baroness Turner of Camden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, when the electricity supply industry was privatised, they were aware of a likely surplus in the pension scheme and the intention of the privatised employers to use that surplus for their own benefit; and, if so, why the privatised companies were allowed so to benefit.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The identification of any surplus within the Electricity Supply Pension Scheme is established through actuarial valuations which are normally undertaken triennially. The most recently available valuation at the time of privatisation was that prepared as at 31 March 1989, which declared a surplus of £89 million, £70 million of which was used to meet the excess cost of pension increases from 1 April 1990.
	The rights of pensioners are protected under the scheme, which requires that any arrangements made in relation to either its administration or the investment management of assets do not reduce entitlement to benefits.

World Squares for All: Parliament Square

Lord Cocks of Hartcliffe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, in the light of Lord Peyton of Yeovil's question on 7 February (H.L. Deb., col. 395), the pedestrianisation of Parliament Square as part of the World Squares for All masterplan is compatible with the sessional order that passages through the streets leading to the Houses of Parliament should be kept free and open.

Lord Whitty: The World Squares for All masterplan proposals for Parliament Square involve the pedestrianisation of the south side of the square only and are compatible with the annual sessional order that passages through the streets leading to the Houses of Parliament should be kept free and open.
	The masterplan proposed phasing the implementation of the plans. Phase 1 focuses on Trafalgar Square and public consultation on the design will be held shortly. Proposals for Parliament Square would be kept for the third and final stage.

Lead Shot Restriction: Entry to Private Premises

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the delegation by the Secretary of State for the Department of the Environment, Transport and Regions to an official of his department, for the issue of authorisation notices for enforcement of the Environmental Protection (Restriction on the use of Lead Shot) (England) Regulations 1999 (S.I 1999/2170), which allow for the entry of authorised persons to private premises, applies only to the Environment Agency or English Nature or whether that official is now legally entitled to authorise any person or organisation to enter private premises under this legislation.

Lord Whitty: The power to authorise any suitable person or organisation can be undertaken by a senior official of my department.

Local Authority Eviction Powers

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they approve of proposals by local authorities, including at least one London Borough, to evict a whole household when one of its members is convicted of an arrestable offence; and whether such action is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

Lord Whitty: Local authority landlords have a range of preventive measures that they can use to tackle anti-social behaviour. The Government continues to advise local authorities that eviction of nuisance tenants should be seen as a last resort, to be pursued only when such measures have failed to persuade the perpetrator to mend his ways.
	Tenants should be in no doubt, however, that anti-social or nuisance behaviour, either by themselves, or by their family or visitors, is unacceptable and may lead to the loss of their tenancy. Ground 2 of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1985, as amended by the Housing Act 1996, enables local authority landlords to seek possession of a tenancy if a tenant, or a person residing in or visiting the dwelling house, has been convicted of an arrestable offence committed in, or in the locality of, the dwelling. It is for the courts to decide, taking into account all the circumstances, whether to grant an eviction order for the tenant concerned. The tenant has the right to make representations to the court about his and his family's circumstances.

Local Authority Housing Vacancies

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many local authority council dwellings were vacant during the years 1997, 1998 and 1999 respectively.

Lord Whitty: The available information relates to the position reported by local authorities in England at 1 April for each year:
	
		
			  Total council vacants Of which empty for management reasons 
			 1997 81,200 49,900 
			 1998 81,700 49,500 
			 1999 83,900 48,100 
		
	
	Note:
	Properties vacant for management reasons are those available for letting immediately, or after completion of minor repairs.
	Source:
	DETR Housing Investment Programme returns

Hedgerow Protection

Lord Hardy of Wath: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they propose to introduce revised hedgerow regulations and what proportion of existing hedgerows they wish to protect.

Lord Whitty: Revised draft regulations will be published for statutory consultation after the results of the research by ADAS into the Hedgerows Review Group's recommendations have been fully evaluated. I am unable to put a timescale on this at this stage.
	The Government's aim is to ensure that any revised hedgerows regulations adequately protect important hedgerows. We do not have preconceived ideas about the proportion of existing hedgerows which should qualify as important.

Hedgerow Protection

Lord Hardy of Wath: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their estimate of the number of miles of hedgerow which have been removed since 1996.

Lord Whitty: This information is not held centrally. However, a survey of hedgerow stock is being undertaken as part of Countryside Survey 2000. This will provide estimates of the length of hedgerow removed since previous surveys in 1990 and 1993, and a baseline for monitoring future changes.

AONB Funding

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When local authorities which wrote to the Deputy Prime Minister about how long-term funding is to be identified for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (including Devon County Council, which wrote on 17 January) can expect to receive an answer.

Lord Whitty: Ministers have received letters from a number of local authorities on the subject of funding for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Replies have in most cases been sent well within the department's target of 15 working days. A reply to the letter from Councillor Margaret Rogers of Devon County Council, which was received on 21 January, was sent on 9 February.

AONB Protection

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they intend to include measures to protect Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the forthcoming Countryside Bill.

Lord Whitty: As announced in the Queen's Speech, the Government intend to introduce legislation to give people greater access to the countryside and to improve protection for wildlife. I cannot disclose further details of the legislation before it is introduced in Parliament.

New Deal for Disabled People: Expenditure

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How much of the £195 million New Deal for Disabled People funding for helping people with disabilities with employment had been spent at 31 December 1999; and how much of the sum spent by that date was spent on supporting the care packages of severely disabled people in full-time employment.

Baroness Blackstone: £195 million (£186 million for Great Britain) has been set aside for the New Deal for Disabled People over the lifetime of this Parliament. As at 31 December 1999, £11.75 million had been spent on pilots offering extra help and support for people on incapacity benefits who want to work. We hope to make an announcement shortly about the next stage of the New Deal for Disabled People taking account of emerging findings from the pilots. None of the £195 million has been set aside specifically for care packages for severely disabled people in full-time employment. However, it is open for personal advisers to provide a wide range of in-work support, including arrangements to supplement care packages where necessary to meet individual needs.

New Deal for Young People

Lord Mason of Barnsley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people have opted for training and self-employment within the New Deal, giving figures separately for England and South Yorkshire.

Baroness Blackstone: Under the New Deal for Young People there are four options, all of which involve some form of training. Figures for these to the end of November 1999 are as follows:
	
		
			 Options England South Yorkshire 
			 Full Time Education and Training 53,020 2,855 
			 Voluntary Sector 20,540 657 
			 Environment Task Force 18,350 872 
			 Employment 20,540 1,142 
		
	
	For the Self-Employment Route within New Deal we gather clerical information for Great Britain. The latest provisional figures to the end of January 2000 show that nationally 1,671 young people have started test trading under the Self Employment Option, and 346 young people have gone into independent self-employment. This figure is not broken down to separate regions.

Learning and Skills Bill [H.L.]

Lord Hoyle: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What plans have they to strengthen the provisions of the Learning and Skills Bill (H.L.) to ensure that both the national and local learning and skills councils will have statutory responsibility to develop the skills of the workforce regardless of age.

Baroness Blackstone: We recognise that there needs to be a substantial improvement in participation and achievement at every level of attainment. That is why we are devoting significant additional resources to post-16 learning to allow access to learning for all those who need it: £3.9 billion in 2001-02, compared to £3.1 billion in 1998-99: an extra £800 million.
	However, we have made clear that the learning and skills council will be required to give priority to the learning of 16 to 19-year-olds, fulfilling our commitment given in the White Paper Learning to Succeed to give all 16 to 19 year-olds an entitlement to education and training, whether full-time or part-time, if they want it. We have made a distinction between provision for the 16 to 19 age group and adults, as we have one of the sharpest declines in participation from 16 to 18 of many countries in Europe.
	The local learning and skills councils will have discretion to secure the right balance and mix of post-19 provision in their area. We expect further increases in the number of adults in learning.

Learning and Skills Bill [H.L.]

Lord Hoyle: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will strengthen the provisions of the Learning and Skills Bill (H.L.) to ensure that the plans of local learning and skills councils are based upon a statement of the needs of their areas regarding education, training and workforce development; and
	Whether they intend to amend the Learning and Skills Bill (H.L.) to confirm that the remit of the learning and skills council at both the national and local level should include the identification of labour market needs, the instigation of economic regeneration initiatives and the undertaking of social inclusion projects that will provide equal opportunities to persons aged 16 or over.

Baroness Blackstone: The noble Lord has tabled the above two Questions which we feel can be appropriately linked.
	We have set out in the LSC Prospectus the importance of the LSCs activities being integrated with local economic development. Local LSCs will achieve this by consulting about their plans with RDAs, local authorities, the Employment Service and local economic development partnerships.
	In support of workforce development and regeneration activities, the LSC is expected to develop a system which is responsive to the needs of the economy, local areas and particular industries and sectors. In particular, the LSC will support workforce development by working with employers, trade unions and many others, including Investors in People UK, the Small Business Service and the University for Industry. It will also work closely with National Training Organisations and their developing frameworks for sector workforce development plans. At a local level the LSCs will prepare local workforce development plans which reflect the national framework and build on the work of local Learning Partnerships. This work includes an analysis of local labour market and skills needs and build on the work of RDAs in identifying regional skill needs.
	Also, local LSCs will have a range of flexible budgets amounting to around 10-15 per cent of the overall funding to support workforce development, local regeneration initiatives, equality of opportunity projects and initiatives, improving access to learning opportunities and marketing and promotion activity.

Learning and Skills Bill [H.L.]

Lord Hoyle: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they intend to amend the Learning and Skills Bill (H.L.) to ensure that the workplace learning route has equal status, support and funding to the school or college route.

Baroness Blackstone: The Learning and Skills Council will aim to fund all providers on an equitable basis. We have said in the Prospectus that the LSC will need to encourage and support providers offering a high quality service, whether they be employers, colleges, school sixth forms or private or voluntary sector training providers.
	We are committed to creating a new system which is coherent, accessible and responsive to the needs of individuals, businesses and communities. The allocation of the majority of the LSC's funds will therefore depend on demand from individuals and businesses about the learning opportunities they wish to pursue, which will in turn inform the decisions taken by the local LSCs.
	The majority of funds will be allocated to national rates within a funding formula. However, we expect that 10-15 per cent of LSC budgets will be for provision which is not included in the national tariff and will be made at the discretion of the local LSC and can be used, for example, for improvements in the quality of local provision and workforce development.

Special Advisers

The Earl of Northesk: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 31 January (WA 12), in what way "strengthening the centre of Government to co-ordinate and oversee the delivery of policy is quite different from the Government's programme of devolution and local government reform"; and
	Whether the increased use and cost of special advisers as a means of "strengthening the centre to ensure a firm political focus and greater co-ordination in the work of this Administration" (HC Deb., 2 February, 645W) is consistent with their programme of devolution and local government reform; and, if so, in what way.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Our decision to have a strong centre to provide strategic focus and drive to the work of this Administration is not inconsistent with our programme of devolution and local government reform, which is bringing decision-making closer to local people.

Special Advisers

The Earl of Northesk: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether there have been any instances where the terms of the Model Contract for Special Advisers have been substantively varied to accommodate the specific requirements of any individual; and, if so, in what respect.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Significant variations have been made in respect of four appointments: the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff and Chief Press Secretary to reflect the fact that they are not restricted to an advisory role, and the UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator and his deputy to reflect their cross-governmental advisory role in tackling drugs related issues.

Special Advisers

The Earl of Northesk: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 8 February (WA 77) that "The Government are not accountable for the costs of any staff working in No. 10 who are paid for by the Labour Party", how many staff paid by the Labour Party are working in No. 10.

The Lord Falconer of Thoroton: 10 staff are employed by the Labour Party in the Political Office in No. 10.

Criminal Justice System and Ethnicity

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 7 February (WA 63), whether they are aware of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Belgian Linguistic Case (No. 2) (merits) (1986) indicating that, although the European Convention on Human Rights does not confer a right to a certain sort of trial, where a state goes beyond its obligations under Article 6 in providing a certain sort of trial, it must do so without discrimination by virture of Article 6 read in conjunction with Article 14.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Yes. As indicated in the Answer given to the noble Lord on 7 February, Official Report, WA 63, the Government are determined to ensure that criminal justice legislation does not discriminate on the grounds of race of ethnic origin.

Police Pursuit Driver Training Document

Lord Campbell of Croy: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many police forces have accepted the Association of Chief Police Officers' police pursuit driver training document, issued in September 1998.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: I expect to be in a position to send you a substantive reply by 10 March 2000.

Corpus Juris

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Answer by Lord Bach on 25 November 1999 (H.L. Deb., col. 648), whether there are any clauses in the European Union treaties which might allow the Corpus Juris project to come into effect by majority voting; and, if so, whether they will identify those clauses.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: In our opinion, there are no such provisions. Although Article 280(4) of the European Community Treaty enables the Council to adopt legislation by qualified majority voting (and co-decision with the European Parliament) to prevent and fight fraud against the financial interests of the Community, Article 280(4) also provides that such measures "shall not concern the application of national criminal law or the national administration of justice". The proposals in the Corpus Juris project would have a major impact on national criminal law in all member states, and are therefore excluded. Some of the proposals in Corpus Juris could be introduced through legislation under Title VI of the Treaty on European Union, but they could only be adopted through unanimity. Alternatively, they might be introduced as a proposal for closer co-operation between a majority of member states under Article 43 of that Treaty. A proposal under Article 43 would require the unanimous support of the member states concerned, and member states which did not wish to take part in the closer co-operation would not be affected.

Police Recruitment Plans

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 3 February (WA 48), whether they will list for each police force the number of recruits whom it had planned to recruit over each of the next three years from April 2000 before the grant of money from the Crime Fighting Fund was announced.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: In their bids for a share of the recruitment scheme of the Crime Fighting Fund, forces provided information on their planned recruitment over the next three years. The table shows the projected appointments on probation, excluding transfers in from other forces. Actual recruitment levels will depend on the chief officer's decisions in the light of the available resources--including the outcome of the 2000 Spending Review now under way.
	
		
			  Projected Appointments on Probation 
			 Force 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 Total 
			 Avon & Somerset 65 80 80 225 
			 Bedfordshire 52 52 52 156 
			 Cambridgeshire 101 52 47 200 
			 Cheshire 70 76 73 219 
			 City of London 50 52 52 154 
			 Cleveland 59 51 47 157 
			 Cumbria 5 60 60 125 
			 Derbyshire 36 60 48 144 
			 Devon & Cornwall 88 48 70 206 
			 Dorset 42 36 31 109 
			 Durham 46 53 51 150 
			 Dyfed-Powys 34 36 34 104 
			 Essex 200 113 115 428 
			 Gloucestershire 90 70 70 230 
			 Greater Manchester 244 279 257 780 
			 Gwent 0 74 51 125 
			 Hampshire 170 152 170 492 
			 Hertfordshire 114 128 116 358 
			 Humberside 0 0 0 0 
			 Kent 145 60 139 344 
			 Lancashire 80 80 80 240 
			 Leicestershire 71 83 94 248 
			 Lincolnshire 55 55 45 155 
			 Merseyside 40 40 40 120 
			 Metropolitan 692 346 600 1,638 
			 Norfolk 20 31 29 80 
			 North Wales 57 57 57 171 
			 North Yorkshire 60 63 60 183 
			 Northamptonshire 27 37 40 104 
			  
			 Northumbria 154 137 134 425 
			 Nottinghamshire 87 73 73 233 
			 South Wales 192 162 162 516 
			 South Yorkshire 80 80 80 240 
			 Staffordshire 11 34 68 113 
			 Suffolk 16 36 55 107 
			 Surrey 145 212 100 457 
			 Sussex 160 160 160 480 
			 Thames Valley 180 175 166 521 
			  
			 Warwickshire 48 48 48 144 
			 West Mercia(1) 66 50 90 206 
			 West Midlands 330 330 330 990 
			 West Yorkshire 105 105 105 315 
			 Wiltshire 28 27 31 86 
			  
			 Total 4,315 3,953 4,210 12,478 
		
	
	(1) West Mercia uncertain about level of budget: 31 or 66 will be recruited in 2000-01.